Loading equipment

ABSTRACT

An operating agency, for instance, a piston-cylinder unit, is connected to the hoist arm of a loading appliance through a coupling system comprising at least two links which are pivotally connected to the hoist arm at positions spaced in the direction of hinging of the arm, and are pivotally connected to the connecting member, which itself is acted on by the operating agency, at positions offset in the opposite direction. This provides for a greater angular range of efficient operation by the hoist arm.

United States Patent Inventors Kaspar Klaus FOREIGN PATENTS 894Memmingen mersmsse 14; 1 168 341 4/1964 German 214/778 Gem Be'kheim'245'123 6/1960 Australia 214/77 Germany App]. No. 020,164 PrimaryExaminer-Gerald M. Forlenza Filed Mar. 17, 1970 AssistantExaminer-Robert J. Spar Patented Nov. 2, 1971 Attorney-Holman & SternLOADING EQUIPMENT 8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 214/77, ABSTRACT: An Operating agency for instance, a piston74/105- 214/130 cylinder unit, is connected to the hoist arm of aloading ap- InLCl 860]) 1/48 pliance through a coupling Systemcomprising at least two Fleld 0f Search. 78, links which are pivotallyconnected to the hoist arm at osi- 80, 130,778, 765; 7 tions spaced inthe direction of hinging of the arm, and are R Cled pivotally connectedto the connecting member, which itself is e I acted on by the operatingagency, at positions offset in the op- UNITED STATES PATENTS positedirection. This provides for a greater angular range of 3,524,560 8/1970Hall 214/130 efficient operation by the hoist arm.

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I 1 Hrra/Q Na r L LOADING EQUIPMENT FIELD OF INVENTION DESCRIPTION OFPRIOR ART In loading appliances of this kind the load is usually engagedwith the free end of the hoist arm while the aforesaid operating meansact on the hoist arm in the vicinity of the hinging axis with a smallerlever arm. When these operating means are constituted by a fluidpressure operated piston cylinder unit there is the problem that therange of hinging movement of the hoist arm over which the operatingmeans can act with the most efficient turning moments is comparativelysmall. Even when the range of hinging movement is increased by acceptingunfavorable turning moments the hinging range is still very restricted.As a result the usual hoist arm constructions have a working range ofless than a right angle.

These problems not only apply to hoist arms with a horizontal hingingaxis. Similar difficulties apply also to cases where arrangements existfor pivoting the whole or a substantial part of the loading appliance,for example, about a vertical axis.

It is an object of the invention to provide equipment for the purposereferred to in the preamble above which enables the range of hinging ofthe hoist arm to be substantially enlarged. In particular it is anobject of the invention to devise an arrangement in such a way thatefficient lever arms are retained even when maximum torque is to beapplied thereto. This applies particularly when the range of hinging ofthe hoist arm is so large that this arm, with or without a load, can beswung from a substantially horizontal position into a vertical positionand then into a horizontal position to the other side of its hingemounting, and can be used as a bilateral loading appliance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention, then, relates to the provisionin loading equipment of the kind comprising at least one loadingappliance incorporating a hoist arm and operating means for hinging saidam to raise a load, of the improvement wherein said operating means isoperatively connected to the hoist arm through a coupling systemcomprising at least two links and a connecting member, said links beingpivotally connected at one end to the hoist arm at positions which areoffset relatively to one another in the direction of hinging of saidhoist arm, said links being pivotally connected at the other ends to theconnecting member at positions which are offset in the directionopposite to the first-mentioned direction, and said connecting memberbeing mounted for guided movement in the appliance and operativelyconnected to said operating means.

It has been found that it is possible with equipment of this inventionto maintain an amplitude of hinging of the hoist arm which is even morethan one half a full circle. This caters for swinging of the arm througha central upright position and a bilateral operation.

Using the invention a wide range of most favorable lengths of lever armcan be freely selected, for example, in such a way that in asubstantially horizontal position of the hoist arm, that is to say whenthe moment of the load is at a maximum, the most favorable lever arm isavailable for effecting the hinging. When the hinging takes place fromone side to the other side through a substantially vertical meanposition, on the other hand, as a rule only a smaller length of leverarm is required for effecting the hinging.

In particular the invention proposes the use of the equipment accordingto the invention is connection with side loading appliances onload-carrying vehicles, particularly those used for container transport.In this event use will be made of at least two hoist arms, one of thesebeing in front of the load and the other being arranged behind the load,as related to the direction of travel of the vehicle, and the range ofhinging of the two hoist arms being substantially equal at the two sidesof the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the present inventionare diagrammatically illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a load-carrying vehicle to which theinvention may with advantage applied,

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the vehicle according to FIG. 1 in thetransporting condition, this being shown on an enlarged scale,

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate two operating positions of the equipmentaccording to the invention, and

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 illustrate another embodiment of the invention in threedifferent operating positions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The load-carrying vehicleillustrated in FIG. 1 is shown supporting a load 1. Arranged to thefront: and rear of this load 1 are two loading appliances 2 and 3, whichare of substantially like fonn and are combined with support legs 4. Theloading appliances 2 and 3 act on load 1 through cables 5 to enable itto be loaded and off-loaded on and from a vehicle.

FIG. 2 gives a rear view of the loading appliance 2. This latter ismounted on a subframe 6 which also carries the support legs 4. Thecomplete subframe is preferably mounted for displacement on the chassis7 of the vehicle to enable the distance between loading appliances 2 and3 to be adjusted to suit the length of the load to be handled.

As can be seen from FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 the subframe 6 caries a supportingupright 8 which can be swung over by means of a piston cylinder unit 9about an axis parallel to the direction of travel of the vehicle. At itsupper end the upright 8 has the pivot 10 for a hoist arm 11 which can behinged by means of a piston cylinder unit 12. This unit 12 is buttressedat 13 against a projection on upright 8 and acts on a connecting member23. The lower end 24 of the latter is pivotally guided in a slideway 14in upright 8 (FIGS. 3 and 4). The piston cylinder unit 12 engages theconnecting member 23 at 15.

Two links 16 and 17 extend between the hoist arm 11 and the connectingmember 23. The link 16 is connected to the hoist arm 11 at pivot 20 andlink 17 to arm 11 at pivot 21. The links 17 and 16 are connected to theconnecting member 23 at pivots l8 and 19.

The operation of the equipment according to the invention andparticularly that of the links and the connecting member will now bedescribed below with reference to the illustration in FIGS. 5 and 7which, although it illustrates a slightly modified version of theappliance seen in the earlier figures,

clearly discloses the principles involved. It is to be noted that in theillustration of FIG. 5, the two links 16 and 17 are crossed with theresult that the articulations at the pivot on the hoist arm on the onehand and the articulations at the pivots of the connecting member 23 areoffset in opposite directions relatively to one another.

While FIG. 5 shows the position of the hoist arm 11 in which this armpoints to the right, FIG. 7 shows an approximately op posite position ofthis arm directed leftwards. FIG. 6 shows an approximate medianposition. It is to be noted that both in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 furtherdepression of the hoist arm is still possible.

When the piston cylinder unit 12, for example, in its posi' tion in FIG.5, is supplied with pressure fluid the piston rod of this unit acts onthe connecting member 23 at 15 and pushes this upwards, whereby thepivot 24 of the connecting member slides upwards in the slideway 14, asindicated by arrow 22. During this movement the link 17 is acting as apressing agency, while the link 16 has more of a guiding function andensures positive guidance of all the parts.

In the region of the position of the parts shown in FIG. 6 the thrusteffort of the piston cylinder unit is conveyed to the hoist arm 11 moreby the link 16 than by link 17. Link 17 has assumed more of the guidingfunction.

By appropriate positioning of the articulations 20 and 21 relatively toone another and to the pivot 10 it is possible to cater for specificturning moments in specific positions of the hoist arm.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. to 7 the distance between thepivot point 18 and 19 on the connecting member 23 is different, and inparticular is smaller, than the distance between the pivot points 20 and21 on the hoist arm 11. It has been found that this enables favorabletransmission ratios to be achieved.

In the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 4, on the other hand, theaforesaid distances are the same and the lengths of links 16 and 17 alsocorrespond in this case. If this condition is maintained the result isthat in the FIG. 3 position link 16 does not move relatively to hoistarm 11, while contrariwise the link 17 performs no relative movement inrelation to the connecting member 23. In FIG. 4 position, on the otherhand, link 16 behaves as if it were rigid with connecting member 23,while link 17 performs no movements relatively to the hoist arm 1 1.During the transit from one operative position to the other links 16 and17 move parallel with one another.

It has been found that the version of the invention of FIGS. 5 to 7produces more uniform transitional motions than the embodiment of FIGS.2 to 4, and this is to be preferred in many instances.

It is pointed out that the drawings only show the parts, andparticularly links 16 and 17, diagrammatically. As a rule these links,and possibly also the piston cylinder units 9 to 12, will be provided inpairs to obtain a symmetrical assembly.

We claim:

1. ln loading equipment comprising at least one loading applianceincorporating a hoist arm and operating means for hinging said arm toraise a load, the improvement wherein said operating means isoperatively connected to the hoist arm through a coupling systemcomprising at least two links and a connecting member, said links beingpivotally connected at one end to the hoist arm at positions which areoffset relatively to one another in the direction of hinging of saidhoist arm,

said links being pivotally connected at the other ends to the connectingmember at positions which are offset in the direction opposite to thefirst-mentioned direction, and said connecting member being mounted forguided movement in the appliance and operatively connected to saidoperating means.

2. Equipment according to claim 1, in which the connecting member has arelatively pivotable part which is slidable in a guideway in asupporting member of the appliance, and the operating means comprises afluid-operated piston-cylinder unit which is pivotally connected betweensaid supporting member and said connecting member.

3. Equipment according to claim 2, in which the pivot connections of thetwo links to the connecting element and the pivot connection of theoperating piston-cylinder unit to the connecting member liesubstantially in a straight line.

4. Equipment according to claim 3, in which said supporting member is anupright which is rockable by fluid-operated means.

5. Equipment according to claim 1, in which the distance between thepivot connections of the two links to the connecting member is equal tothe distance between the pivot connections of the two links to the hoistarm, and each of the two links is of a length equal to this distance.

6. Equipment according to claim 1, in which the distance between thepivot connections of the two links to the connecting element isdifferent from the distance between the pivot connections of the twolinks to the hoist arm.

7. Equipment according to claim 6, in which the distance between thepivot connections of the two links to the connecting element is lessthan the distance between the pivot connections of the two links to thehoist arm.

8. Equipment according to claim 1, arranged on a load-carrying vehicle,this equipment comprising a loading appliance disposed in front of theload on the vehicle and a second appliance behind the load, as relatedto the direction of travel of the vehicle, the pivotal range of thehoist arms of the appliances being substantially the same at the twosides of the vehicle.

1. In loading equipment comprising at least one loading applianceincorporating a hoist arm and operating means for hinging said arm toraise a load, the improvement wherein said operating means isoperatively connected to the hoist arm through a coupling systemcomprising at least two links and a connecting member, said links beingpivotally connected at one end to the hoist arm at positions which areoffset relatively to one another in the direction of hinging of saidhoist arm, said links being pivotally connected at the other ends to theconnecting member at positions which are offset in the directionopposite to the first-mentioned direction, and said connecting memberbeing mounted for guided movement in the appliance and operativelyconnected to said operating means.
 2. Equipment according to claim 1, inwhich the connecting member has a relatively pivotable part which isslidable in a guideway in a supporting member of the appliance, and theoperating means comprises a fluid-operated piston-cylinder unit which ispivotally connected between said supporting member and said connectingmember.
 3. Equipment according to claim 2, in which the pivotconnections of the two links to the connecting element and the pivotconnection of the operating piston-cylinder unit to thE connectingmember lie substantially in a straight line.
 4. Equipment according toclaim 3, in which said supporting member is an upright which is rockableby fluid-operated means.
 5. Equipment according to claim 1, in which thedistance between the pivot connections of the two links to theconnecting member is equal to the distance between the pivot connectionsof the two links to the hoist arm, and each of the two links is of alength equal to this distance.
 6. Equipment according to claim 1, inwhich the distance between the pivot connections of the two links to theconnecting element is different from the distance between the pivotconnections of the two links to the hoist arm.
 7. Equipment according toclaim 6, in which the distance between the pivot connections of the twolinks to the connecting element is less than the distance between thepivot connections of the two links to the hoist arm.
 8. Equipmentaccording to claim 1, arranged on a load-carrying vehicle, thisequipment comprising a loading appliance disposed in front of the loadon the vehicle and a second appliance behind the load, as related to thedirection of travel of the vehicle, the pivotal range of the hoist armsof the appliances being substantially the same at the two sides of thevehicle.